Universal size disposable shoe cover

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a unitary blank which is rectangularlike in shape with the sides and the ends of the rectangle being modified so that when the one end and part of the sides are sewn together with an elastic thread in accordance with this invention it is readily formed into a shoe cover which fits snugly a large variety of sizes of shoes. The blank has, in effect, three parts which are the top section, the bottom section and the two side sections. The top section comprises two angularly flared portions each portion extending from a point near the center of the top and going toward its respective side section at a desired angle as is explained hereinafter. The bottom section comprises two rounded sections each extending toward the side section adjacent to it, and the two side sections are portions each of which is in effect a reversing curve joining the rounded bottom section with its related top section. The portion of the blank that lies between each of the top angularly flared portions is a rounded section. When the blank is folded along its longitudinal axis and viewed in the unsewn, folded plan position, the fold resembles the shape of a shoe. In effecting sewing, the two top angularly flared sections and the portion therebetween are made to lie in juxtaposition and when in that position they are sewed together using an elastic thread. The sewing is then continued around all of the other edges, in effect gathering them together, the sewing being continued to the place of beginning at the given angularly flared section, thereby forming an enclosure which is serviceable as a shoe cover. The two top angularly flared sections with the curved section therebetween forms the toe portion of the shoe and the rounded bottom sections that have been gathered together by the said sewing form the heel section of the shoe. While the shoe cover of this invention as described above may be used for many uses, one of the preferred uses is as a disposable shoe cover in hospitals. For such uses it is preferred to equip the shoe cover of this invention with a conductive strip. This is readily done by sewing the conductive strip to the side of the blank that will form the bottom of the shoe, beginning at the toe section and running the strip as far back as the heel section with a portion left over, which portion is used to make contact with the wearer. That portion can be tucked into the sock of the wearer, or it can be brought around and into the inside of the cover and made a part of the inside heel or the inside floor of the shoe for body contact. With such contact electrical charges are eliminated by grounding the individual wearing the shoe cover.

[ 51 Aug. 12, 1975 UNIVERSAL SIZE DISPOSABLE SHOE COVER [76] Inventor:Louis S. Epstein, 6603 Governor Printz Blvd, Wilmington, Del.. 19809[22] Filed: Mar. 7, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 338,916

2,682,713 7/1957 Eiger 36/11 2,986,823 6/1961 Kos.... 36/7.l R 3,337,7708/1967 Saraceni et a1. 36/7 3,605,291 9/1971 Moore et a1. 36/7.l R

Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson Attorney, Agent, or Firm.C. WalterMortenson [57] ABSTRACT This invention provides a unitary blank which isrectangular-like in shape with the sides and the ends of the rectanglebeing modified so that when the one end and part of the sides are sewntogether with an elastic thread in accordance with this invention it isreadily formed into a shoe cover which fits snugly a large variety ofsizes of shoes. The blank has, in effect, three parts which are the topsection, the bottom section and the two side sections. The top sectioncomprises two angularly flared portions each portion extending from apoint near the center of the top and going toward its respective sidesection at a desired angle as is explained hereinafter. The bottomsection comprises two rounded sections each extending toward the sidesection adjacent to it, and the two side sections are portions each ofwhich is in effect a reversing curve joining the rounded bottom sectionwith its related top section. The portion of the blank that lies betweeneach of the top angularly flared portions is a rounded section. When theblank is folded along its longitudinal axis and viewed in the unsewn,folded plan position, the fold resembles the shape of a shoe.

In effecting sewing, the two top angularly flared sections and theportion therebetween are made to lie in juxtaposition and when in thatposition they are sewed together using an elastic thread, The sewing isthen continued around all of the other edges, in effect gathering themtogether, the sewing being continued to the place of beginning at thegiven angularly flared section, thereby forming an enclosure which isserviceable as a shoe cover. The two top angularly flared sections withthe curved section therebetween forms the toe portion of the shoe andthe rounded bottom sections that have been gathered together by the saidsewing form the heel section of the shoe.

While the shoe cover of this invention as described above may be usedfor many uses, one of the preferred uses is as a disposable shoe coverin hospitals. For such uses it is preferred to equip the shoe cover ofthis invention with a conductive strip. This is readily done by sewingthe conductive strip to the side of the blank that will form the bottomof the shoe, beginning at the toe section and running the strip as farback as the heel section with a portion left over, which portion is usedto make contact with the wearer. That portion can be tucked into thesock of the wearer, or it can be brought around and into the inside ofthe cover and made a part of theinside heel or the inside floor of theshoe for body contact. With such contact electrical charges areeliminated by grounding the individual wearing the shoe cover.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures UNIVERSAL SIZE DISPOSABLE SHOE COVERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with adisposable shoe covering which can be economically made in such afashion that it can readily be used to cover a wide variety of sizesequally well. The invention relates to such a shoe covering thatadditionally can be used in hospitals to prevent and reducecontamination and can be used effectively to prevent explosions inoperating rooms through the grounding of the individual wearing thecover of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART There are a large variety of patents inthis field each of which has its own particular feature, but none ofwhich discloses the shoe covering of this invention that is so adaptableto a wide variety of sizes, effecting coverage equally well. It is wellknown that shoe coverings can be provided of disposable materials toprevent the accumulation of dirt and dust and microbes and the like,thereby cutting down the spread of disease in hospitals and similarinstitutions. It is also well known that shoe coverings can be equippedwith conductive strips to effect grounding of the wearer of thecovering, thereby cutting down or eliminating explosions that haveheretofore frequently occurred in operating rooms due to sparks causedby discharge of static electricity.

One of the problems in the art of such shoe coverings is makingavailable to the users in a large variety of institutions the many sizesthat are encountered due to the wide variety of people working in suchplaces. Shoe coverings that are readily adaptable to small shoes worn byfemales are urgently needed as well as shoe coverings that are worn bymales having much larger foot sizes. Of course, a wide variety ofdifferent shoe coverings can be made available and, indeed, areavailable. However, the expense involved in the marketing and keeping aninventory of such materials tends to defeat the purposes of thedisposability of the shoe coverings. Further complications arise withthe turnover of personnel in the various institutions. Still further,prior art devices that are used to cover a variety of shoe sizesinvariably involve bunching-up of materials on the bottom partespecially in the smaller size uses. This knotting effect causesdiscomfort in walking.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION One objective of this invention is theprovision of a disposable shoe covering for shoes. Another purpose is toprovide a disposable shoe covering which is inexpensive and is readilymade and which will fit a wide variety of foot sizes.

A still further aim of this invention is providing a san itary coveringfor shoes which meet the above objectives and which additionallyprevents the occurrence of electrical build-up in or on the body of thewearer which build-up is due to the friction effects involved in onesmoving around in such a room as an operating room.

A further purpose is the provision of a shoe covering which has a soleportion that lies substantially flat when in use.

These and other objectives appear below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above objectives of this invention areaccomplished by the provision of a blank or panel which has a certainshape that affords its conversion to an enclosure by one simple sewing.A partial fold of the blank is effected and at the meeting edges of thatpartial fold an elastic thread is applied to form a seam and this seamruns from the tip of the toe portion of the resultant shoe to the end ofthe meeting sections of the partial fold and it then continues aroundthe other edges in a circular, non-seam forming manner and coming backto the end of the said seam. The non-seam forming sewing gathers theside and the heel sections of the shoes together by virtue of theelasticity of the sewing thread. The resultant shoe will stay in thevery small form that is created by the puckering of the elastic threadwhen the wearer having a small shoe size uses this covering. However,when the user is a person wearing a large shoe, the stretching of thecovering that occurs when that user places the covering of thisinvention over his shoe results in the stretching of the entire coveringin all directions to cover the shoe adequately. In all cases the bottomof the shoe covering is flat with excellent contact between the floorand the bottom parts of the shoe.

This invention will be further understood by reference to the figuresgiven below along with the description which follows, all of which isgiven for illustrative purposes and is not limitative.

FIG. 1 is a perspective showing one embodiment of the foot covering ofthis invention in position over the shoe of a given wearer with theconductive strip in one position;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment of the foot covering of thisinvention (shown in FIG. 1) in position over a shoe with the conductivestrip placed inside the shoe, the foot of the wearer being absent;

FIG. 3 is a front view of said embodiment in position on a shoe;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view;

FIG. 5 is a plan of the blank of this invention prior to its formationinto the enclosure and showing the conductive strip in position.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of another embodiment of this invention as thepattern or blank; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective showing the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 inposition over a wearers shoe.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. 5 thereis seen a pattern or blank 10 which when sewn in accordance with thisinvention is readily converted to the shoe covering 11 shown in FIGS.1-4. The blank is, in effect, a rectangular piece of material which hashad its ends and its sides modified. As can be seen at 12 and 13, oneend, hereinafter referred to as the top or toe end, has the corners cutoff by the angularly flared sections 12 and 13 each extending to itsrespective side of the imagined rectangle. In between the portions 12and I3 is the center section 14 which can be a fairly straight sectionor it can be a rounded section as shown by line 15 in FIG. 6. Thiscenter portion actually in the resultant enclosure is the portion thatreceives the toe or the toe portion of the shoe of the user. The bottomsection of the blank 10 shows the corners of the imagined rectanglerounded off, the rounding being shown at 16 and 17. Here again, themodified bottom end of the rectangle extends into the respective sidesections. The bottom sections go to form the heel portion of thecovering. The side sections 18 and 19 are in effect rounded or reversecurves joining the flared sections 12 and 13 (or 30 and 31 in FIG. 6)with their respective rounded or joining sections 16 and 17.

Also shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is the conductive strip 20. It is sewn tothe blank 10 on the side of the pattern that will form the sole orbottom of the shoe, and it is shown extending from the toe portion at 14(or 15 in FIG. 6) by the dotted lines 21 all the way to the heel sectionat 16/l7 and extending beyond it, as shown in the solid lines, the solidlines portion being designated by the reference numeral 22. Theextending strip 20 is shown in broken form to illustrate that its lengthis indefinite and can be as long as desired.

When the blank 10 is to be formed into a shoe covering, the manufacturersimply folds the top portion of the blank, or the toe-metatarsus sectionpart, so that the angularly extending section 12 matches and lies on topof the angularly extending section 13. Stated differently, the blank 10is folded on its longitudinal axis or center line, designated by dottedline 32 in FIG. 5, from point A to about point B. With the blank in thispartially folded condition, the manufacturer then sews, for example,beginning at point 23 with point 23' in lapped position with it, goingalong the edges of 13/12 to the overlapped center section 14 and aroundthe overlapped sections of 18 and 19 using an elastic thread. Thissewing causes an elastic seam 24 (FIG. 2) to be formed running from thevery front end of the shoe covering or toe section 25 all the way up tothe ankle ending at 26.

This is the only seam in the entire device. The manufacturer of the shoecovering then continues the sewing going around the unlapped edge of thereverse curve 18, the rounded bottom sections 16 and 17, then along theunlapped edges of reverse curve 19 going to the sewn lapped sections of18 and 19, and, if desired, back to the place of beginning, the lapped23/23 points. In stitching the unlapped edges, puckering and gatheringtogether of the material occurs forming the side portions of the shoeand the heel portion of the shoe designated as 27, 28 and 29,respectively, in FIG. 2.

As can be seen in FIG. 2 and in FIG. 3 both the angularly top sections12 and 13 being at a modest angle, the shoe covering can be made to stopa bit short of the very front top of the shoe of the wearer, leaving asection of the shoe 33 exposed. In some instances this is desired as,for example, in tying and untying ones shoe. However, in the majority ofinstances it is preferred to cover the entire shoe. In order to effectthat coverage the top angular sections 12 and 13 are made to be moresharply angled to the respective sides as shown by lines 30 and 31 inFIG. 6. When said sharply angled sections are used, a manufacturer, uponeffecting the sewing of the elastic thread as described above, creates ashoe covering which rises much higher on the anterior portion of thefoot and will cover completely the shoe of the wearer as shown in FIG. 7at section 34.

Also shown in FIGS. 1 and 7 is the conductive strip 20 which extendedbeyond the bottom or heel section end of blank 10 in FIGS. 5 and 6. Itis brought up along the outside of the heel section and is tucked insidethe shoe as shown in FIG. 2 to lie on the bottom of the shoe, or it canbe tucked into the sock of the wearer (not shown for convenience). FIG.4 shows the conductive strip 20 at the heel portion of the covering ofthis invention. The conductive striplying on the bottom of the shoe,being section 21 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 can be seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 7.

The conductive strip 20 can be made of any suitable material such ascloth made of nylon, poly(ethylene terephthalate), rayon, canvas, paperand similar fabric materials. These are filled with a high percentage ofcarbon or graphite or similar pulverulent, electrically conductingmaterial. This material is kept contained within the pores of the fabricby adhesives in any wellknown manner. The strip can be narrow or wide,and strips one-third the width of the blank are frequently used.

The blank 10 can also be constructed of the fabric materials mentionedabove as well as muslin, any of the well-known stretchable materialsincluding a nylon stretch fabric known in the trade as Hellanca,nonwoven papers and paper products such as Tyvek available from the E.I. duPont deNemours and Co., Inc., poly( tetrafluoroethylene), or any ofthe many synthetic polymeric materials. In general, all of the parts ofthe blank and shoe covering of this invention'are water-insensitive innormal use and are substantially wearresistant. Yet, as to the economicaspect the materials used are relatively inexpensive, being available atlow cost. Thus,,their disposal after only one use is more thaneconomically compatible with the results attained.

One of the distinct advantages of the shoe covering of this invention isthat the conductive strip 21 does not have to be and indeed is not apart of any seam. It can be secured to the face of blank 10 that becomesthe bottom of the covering by gluing or by sewing or by any suchconvenient means and in all instances it is made to lie flat andentirely parallel with and in complete contact with that outside sectionof the shoe covering. In practice one simple stitching shown bydottedline 35 in FIG. 6 can effect the mounting of the strip to the blank.This stitching follows preferably the centerline or longitudinal axis ofthe blank and runs the fulllength of blank 10.

Thus, irrespective of the size of the shoe that the user is wearing, theconductive strip 21 will lie substantially in flat contact oversubstantial portions of its length with the floor. Further, since theconductive strip is not a part of any seam forming the covering of thisinvention, the length of the conductive strip is not limitative in anyway. Therefore, it can extend the full length of the shoe covering. Thisis a marked advantage over the shoe coverings of the prior art in thatmany operations are done with the operator being seated on a stool orsupporting his or her body in a position whereby only the covered shoetoe portions or one of said toe portions of the person are or iscontacting the floor. Since the covers of the shoes of this inventionare equipped with the conductive strip and thereby are in contact withthe floor even in these positions, the desired protection against staticelectricity accumulations is attained. Still further, the shoe coveringof this invention can be readily and effectively worn by users havingshoe sizes as small as size 4 for females and as large as a shoe of thesize 14 as is encountered occasionally among males in hospitals andsimilar institutions. The formation of knots or bunched material underthe foot of the wearer is avoided, and the wearer walks in the normalcomfort of his shoes.

While the invention has been disclosed herein in connection with certainembodiments and certain structural and procedural details, it is clearthat changes, modifications or equivalents can be used by those skilledin the art; accordingly, such changes within the principles of theinvention are intended to be included within the scope of the claimsbelow.

I claim:

1. A blank for conversion to a shoe covering which blank comprises a topsection, a bottom section and two side sections, the top sectioncomprising two portions in its foremost part which portions are joinedby a substantially straight portion, each of said two portions beingangularly flared to its respective side section, the bottom sectioncomprising two portions each being rounded toward its respective sidesection, the terminal of each rounded bottom portion being joined to theterminal of its respective angularly flared top portion through a curvecomprising one of said respective side sections which curve extends awayfrom the center of the blank.

2. A blank in accordance with claim 1 wherein said top section containsin its foremost part arcuate sections contiguous with each saidrespective side sections.

3. A blank in accordance with claim 1 in which each said curve comprisesa slight S curve.

4. A blank in accordance with claim 1 in which said top section containsbetween the uppermost terminals of the angularly flared portions aportion which comprises a slight curve running inwardly toward thecenter of said blank.

5. A blank in accordance with claim 1 which has running along thelongitudinal axis of the blank and sewn to one side of the blank a stripof material capable of conducting electricity.

6. A blank in accordance with claim 5 in which said strip is narrow.

7. A blank in accordance with claim Sin which said strip is wide.

8. A blank in accordance with claim 7 in which said strip approaches theone-third of the width of said blank.

9. A blank in accordance with claim 5 in which said strip runs from thefull length of the blank in sewn relationship therewith and extendsbeyond the blank in unsewn relationship therewith.

1. A blank for conversion to a shoe covering which blank comprises a topsection, a bottom section and two side sections, the top sectioncomprising two portions in its foremost part which portions are joinedby a substantially straight portion, each of said two portions beingangularly flared to its respective side section, the bottom sectioncomprising two portions each being rounded toward its respective sidesection, the terminal of each rounded bottom portion being joined to theterminal of its respective angularly flared top portion through a curvecomprising one of said respective side sections which curve extends awayfrom the center of the blank.
 2. A blank in accordance with claim 1wherein said top section contains in its foremost part arcuate sectionscontiguous with each said respective side sections.
 3. A blank inaccordance with claim 1 in which each said curve comprises a slight Scurve.
 4. A blank in accordance with claim 1 in which said top sectioncontains between the uppermost terminals of the angularly flaredportions a portion which comprises a slight curve running inwardlytoward the center of said blank.
 5. A blank in accordance with claim 1which has running along the longitudinal axis of the blank and sewn toone side of the blank a strip of material capable of conductingelectricity.
 6. A blank in accordance with claim 5 in which said stripis narrow.
 7. A blank in accordance with claim 5 in which said strip iswide.
 8. A blank in accordance with claim 7 in which said stripapproaches the one-third of the width of said blank.
 9. A blank inaccordance with claim 5 in which said strip runs from the full length ofthe blank in sewn relationship therewith and extends beyond the blank inunsewn relationship therewith.